Texas is No. 1 carbon polluter
Texas is No. 1 carbon polluter

By The Associated Press

Published: January 17, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas — Everything's big in Texas — big pickups, big sport utility vehicles and the state's big carbon footprint, too.

Texans' fondness for large vehicles has helped make the Lone Star State the biggest carbon polluter in the nation.

The headquarters state of America's oil industry spewed 670 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2003, enough that Texas would rank seventh in the world if it were its own country, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The amount is more than that of California and Pennsylvania — the second- and third-ranking states — combined.

A multitude of factors contribute to the carbon output. Among them: Texas' 19 coal-burning power plants; a heavy concentration of refineries and chemical plants; a lack of mass transit; and a penchant among ranchers and urban cowboys alike for brawny, gas-guzzling trucks — sometimes to haul things, but often just to look Texas tough.

Debbie Howden, an Austin real estate agent, said her family of six has two pickups, three SUVs, and no apologies.

"I would definitely put size and safety over the emissions thing,” said Howden, 55.

She calls their high fuel bills a "necessary evil.”

Anthony Nguyen attended the famously liberal University of California at Berkeley but drives a black Nissan Frontier pickup handed down from his dad, a liquor store owner. Nguyen said his father hauled liquor in the truck, but he admitted he has no practical use for its large bed.

"I think it's the idea that in Texas, everything is bigger,” said Nguyen, 20.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry has expressed doubt as to whether global warming is a manmade problem.

As for the state's greenhouse gas ranking, Perry's administration makes no apologies.

"Being that Texas is a heavily populated state, that it is the leading producer of energy, has the largest refining capacity and has the largest petrochemical industry in the nation, it would be expected that we would have the largest total of greenhouse gases in the country,” Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said.

Texas, the second most populous state, behind California, has 23.5 million people and more than 20 million registered vehicles, about one in four of them a pickup. California has a population of 36.5 million and 33 million registered vehicles.

Texas consumes more coal than any other state.

There is little doubt the state's stand on pollution reflects the influence of Texas' biggest and most powerful industry: energy.

Texans polled last spring listed the Iraq war and immigration as the nation's most pressing issues, with fewer than 4 percent saying the environment was a top concern. Nationally, slightly less than half of Americans polled by the Pew Research Center last year rated global warming as a "very serious” problem.

There is some evidence that attitudes are changing, but only modestly.

The number of hybrid vehicles registered in Texas more than doubled last year, to 48,550. Still, that's only a fraction of 1 percent of all vehicles registered in the state.

"As more hybrids are added on, particularly hybrids that are trucks, you see a spike in those,” said Kim Sue Lia Perkes, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation title and registration division. "You might not get Texans out of their trucks, but they will buy their hybrid trucks.”

Teri Kuester, a textbook consultant, drives a Toyota Tundra pickup around Austin. But she hopes to buy a more efficient vehicle next time around, and when she can, she walks to the post office and the drugstore instead of driving.

"It's time to quit letting the oil lobbies run things,” she said. "We need alternative energy. We're really interested in seeing that.”

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